12212: Did children climb upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) during prayer?

Is there a sunnah of the holy prophet regarding him allowing children to climb upon him during prayer and where can I find it?

Praise be to Allaah.

It was
proven in al-Saheehayn and elsewhere, in the hadeeth of Abu Qutaadah
that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) used to pray whilst carrying Umaamah, the daughter of Zaynab, the
daughter of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him). When he prostrated, he would put her down, and when he stood up
he would pick her up again.

According
to one report: “I saw the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) leading the people in prayer, with Umaamah bint
Abi’l-‘Aas on his shoulders. When he bowed he would put her down and when he
stood up from prostrating he would pick her up again.”

Shaykh ‘Abd
al-Kareem al-Khudayr

Al-Nasaa’i
(1141) narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Shaddaad that his father said: “The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came
out to us for one of the evening prayers (Maghrib or ‘Isha’), carrying Hasan
or Husayn. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) came forward, put the child down and said Takbeer (“Allaahu
akbar”) to start the prayer. Then he prostrated during the prayer and his
prostration lasted for a long time. My father said: I raised my head and saw
the child on the back of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him), so I went back to my prostration. When the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) finished praying,
the people said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, during your prayer you
prostrated and it took a long time, until we thought that something had
happened, or that you were receiving Revelation.’ He said, ‘Nothing
happened, but my son was riding on my back and I did not want to hurry him
up until he had had enough.’” (Saheeh al-Nasaa’i, 1093).